According to research conducted by IPG Media Lab and YuMe, DVRs are not the ad killer they are made out to be, reports AdAge.

Thestudy found that smartphones and other types of "companion" media(laptops, iPads, video games) provide a much bigger distraction in TVviewing than DVR playback. A whopping 94% of TV viewers use some type ofcompanion media; that number was 73% for online video watchers.Smartphones made up 60% of the TV distractions.

Participantsin the study watched the content, but turned to their other mediadevices during the commercials, and some even used companion media evenwhen the content was playing. 48 adults took part in the study, whichwas conducted this spring in Los Angeles.

Thebiometric tool Affectiva calculated the participants'"face-towards-screen" frame by frame, as well as measured the viewers'intellectual and emotional engagement. Viewers were also asked to recallads that they had seen, with online ads being easier to remember.

Whenthe participants used the DVR to fast forward through commercials,almost half were completely focused on the screen while doing so, andhad 12% more attention levels. Non fast-forwarded ads, however, did have ahigher recall rate.

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